track speeds

[cheese23]

Why is it that on certain sections of track when the track is straight and level with no switches the speed limit is still only at 20mph on certain it seems pointless to be going slower when you can easly run at a high speed since you know that you wont have any tight curves coming up

[mrmike]

Jason,

As a worker in the tunnels under the Hudson River, you wouldn't think it was pointless if you went SPLAT!

These speed limits are for safety issues.

[cheese23]

I understand that and def saftey is important. As I can understand going 15mph around a really tight curve but sometimes the speed limit is 15-20mph on track that runs straight for a very long time where you could easily do 30-40mph I'm not saying go as fast as you want but at least i'm baffled why some of the speed limits are so slow when it is straight track.

[mrmike]

Jason,

You missed my point entirely. I was referring to a worker being sucked off the wall into the train causing instant death.
In square sections of the tunnels, a higher speed is allowed. Also there are niches in which a worker can retreat to avoid the vacuum effect. This is not always the case with the tube configuration of the tunnel.

[cheese23]

oh ok sorry lol. I understand so it's to protect the workers working on the tunnel. I mena I knew there was a reason but i just didn't know what it was thanks for your help.

[BobKK47]

Two points on this topic.

[BobKK47]

Two points on this topic.

1. I believe the speed limit in the Christopher street tunnel is, like in WOS, 20mph because this is a very old structure. Maybe someone who actually rides the train can verify this.

2. Check the following video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XrjMHIfAZ4k

If you look closely at this video which was taken on a PATH train coming out of JSQ heading towards the tunnel, at 46 seconds into the video, you'll see a speed sign which indicates "40" or 40mph. In WOS, the speed signs on this section of track display "25". So it appears that the real speed at this point is 15mph greater than what is in WOS. This leads me to question how accurate the other speed limit signs are in WOS.

[engineer1008]

Hi Mike
Are you saying that they allow workers into tunnels without protection from trains? We use track block outs and flagmen with temporary speed restrictions when work is being done. I think the speed limits are kind of unusual when I run it as the signs trackside do not always align with what the track monitor says. Perhaps an upgrade will come out to correct this. Otherwise its great!